Wikipedia

Ntuthuko Mahlaba

Nkululeko Ntuthuko Mahlaba is a South African politician and healthcare practitioner. A member of the African National Congress, he serves as the party's provincial treasurer in KwaZulu-Natal as well as the chairperson of the party's Mbuso Kubheka Region (formerly eMalahleni). Since May 2023, he has been the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) responsible for Sports, Arts and Culture in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government. From August 2022 to May 2023, he was the MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works. Mahlaba previously served as the executive mayor of the Newcastle Local Municipality from 2019 to 2021.

Ntuthuko Mahlaba
MPL
Member of the Executive Council of KwaZulu-Natal for Sports, Arts and Culture
Assumed office
23 May 2023
PremierNomusa Dube-Ncube
Preceded byAmanda Bani-Mapena
Member of the Executive Council of KwaZulu-Natal for Human Settlements and Public Works
In office
11 August 2022 – 23 May 2023
PremierNomusa Dube-Ncube
Preceded byJomo Sibiya
Succeeded bySipho Nkosi
Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature
Assumed office
10 August 2022
Executive Mayor of the Newcastle Local Municipality
In office
1 March 2019 – 31 October 2021
Preceded byMakhosini Nkosi
Succeeded byXolani Dube
Personal details
Born1980 or 1981 (age 42–43)
Political partyAfrican National Congress
ProfessionHealthcare practitioner, politician

Career and criminal charges edit

In May 2018, Mahlaba was elected as the chairperson of the ANC's Emalahleni region.[1] He was sworn in as an ANC councillor of the Newcastle Local Municipality in October 2018. During a special council meeting on 1 March 2019, Mahlaba was elected as the mayor of the municipality following the sudden resignation of Makhosini Nkosi.[2] On 22 March 2019, Mahalaba was arrested after he was allegedly linked to the attempted murder of ANCYL leader, Mafika Ndamane and the murder of ex-ANC Youth League member, Wandile Ngobeni.[3] In August 2019, the charges of murder and attempted murder against Mahlaba were dropped due to a lack of witnesses willing to testify.[4][5][6]

On 26 July 2021, Mahlaba appeared in the Newcastle Magistrate's Court on charges of robbery, attempted murder, malicious damage to property, theft and incitement of violence and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm over an incident in September 2020 where Mahlaba, Njabulo Mabaso, Sgananda Shezi assaulted employees of a fibre subcontractor in the Aviary Hill area in Newcastle.[7][8] In August, the provincial ANC leadership removed Mahlaba as a councillor candidate ahead of the local government elections due to the charges.[9][10] Mahlaba was re-elected unopposed as the regional chairperson of the ANC in eMalahleni on 7 September 2021.[11][12] Mahlaba left office as mayor of Newcastle on 31 October 2021. He was found guilty by the Newcastle Regional Court for incitement to commit assault on 22 November 2021 and was fined R20,000.[13]

In June 2022, Mahlaba announced his intention to contest a leadership position at the ANC's provincial elective conference in July 2022.[14] He was on ANC MPL Siboniso Duma's "Taliban" slate, a group of candidates sympathetic to former party president Jacob Zuma.[15] At the ANC's conference on 23 July 2022, Mahlaba defeated the MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works, Jomo Sibiya to become the next provincial treasurer of the ANC as candidates linked to the "Taliban" faction made a clean sweep of all the provincial leadership positions.[16]

Provincial government edit

Following Mahlaba's election as provincial chairperson, sources said that Mahlaba would be appointed to the provincial executive council as the MEC for Health, since Mahlaba is a medical doctor.[17] The defeated provincial chairperson, Sihle Zikalala resigned as premier of KwaZulu-Natal on 5 August 2022. Before Finance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube's election and inauguration as premier, Mahlaba was sworn in as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature on 10 August.[18] The following day, Mahlaba was appointed as the MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works by Dube-Ncube.[19]

During a mini reshuffle of the KwaZulu-Natal executive council on 23 May 2023, he was appointed as MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture. He replaced Amanda Bani-Mapena who resigned in early-April 2023, while Sipho Nkosi took over as MEC for Public Works and Human Settlements.[20]

References edit

  1. ^ "ANC's Emalahleni region holds elective conference | eNCA". www.enca.com. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  2. ^ "New Newcastle Mayor sworn-in to office - Newcastle Municipality". 2019-03-04. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  3. ^ Trav (2019-03-22). "Newcastle mayor arrested on murder charges". Northern Natal News. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  4. ^ "Murder charges dropped against KZN mayor as witnesses won't testify". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  5. ^ Mavuso, Sihle. "BREAKING NEWS: Murder charges withdrawn against Newcastle mayor". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  6. ^ "Murder charges dropped against Newcastle Mayor Ntuthuko Mahlaba". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  7. ^ "Newcastle mayor appears in court facing an array of criminal charges". Ridge Times. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  8. ^ "Newcastle mayor 'not arrested' in assault case, says he won't step down". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  9. ^ Ndou, Clive (2021-08-24). "ANC finally acts against Newcastle mayor". Witness. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  10. ^ Khumalo, Juniour. "KwaZulu-Natal ANC local govt candidates removed from list for facing criminal charges". News24. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  11. ^ Nxumalo, Sakhiseni. "Newcastle mayor Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba re-elected as eMalahleni regional chairperson". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  12. ^ Capa, Siyamtanda (2021-09-06). "ANC's Mahlaba elected unopposed in Newcastle". Witness. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  13. ^ McCain, Nicole. "KwaZulu-Natal mayor fined R20 000 for inciting violence that led to assault". News24. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  14. ^ Makhaye, Chris (2022-06-08). "ROAD TO ELECTIVE CONFERENCE: Former Newcastle mayor Ntuthuko Mahlaba throws hat in ring for ANC KZN party leader". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  15. ^ "Meet the ANC KZN faction that calls itself the Taliban". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  16. ^ Khumalo, Juniour. "Clean sweep for ANC faction sympathetic to Zuma in KwaZulu-Natal". News24. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  17. ^ Chetty, Kuben. "KwaZulu-Natal cabinet reshuffle on the cards". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  18. ^ "Premier nominee Nomusa Dube-Ncube arrives in Mooi River ahead of being sworn-in". SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader. 2022-08-10. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  19. ^ Rall, Se-Anne. "KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube announces 6 new MECs in cabinet shuffle". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  20. ^ Maliti, Soyiso. "Mini shuffle for KZN Cabinet as two new MECs announced". News24. Retrieved 2023-05-25.

External links edit

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